Biggs Museum hosts mini exhibition and lecture on Currier & Ives

The Biggs Museum of American Art will kick off Saturday with a ceremony honoring some of the top artists throughout the state, followed by a lecture that highlights some of the best Currier & Ives prints.

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By Staff Reports

Dover Post

By Staff Reports

Posted Sep. 13, 2013 at 12:54 PM

By Staff Reports
Posted Sep. 13, 2013 at 12:54 PM

Dover, Del.

The Biggs Museum of American Art will kick off Saturday with a ceremony honoring some of the top artists throughout the state, followed by a lecture that highlights some of the best Currier & Ives prints.

Award Winners XIII

Starting at 11 a.m., the Biggs will host its Award Winners XIII exhibition artist award presentation to celebrate the works of the 2013 Delaware Division of the Arts (DDOA) Individual Artist fellows. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the artists, see their works and enjoy musical performances by emerging artist fellow Michele McCann and established artist fellow Augustine Mercante. There will also be a poetry reading by established artist fellow Linda Blaskey.

Currier & Ives lecture

Donald Cresswell, co-owner of The Philadelphia Print Shop, Ltd., will address the appreciation, connoisseurship and collecting of antique prints visitors in a lecture titled "The History of Collecting Currier & Ives-The Best 50" at 4 p.m.

In 1932, a panel of 12 Currier & Ives experts and collectors selected a group of what they considered to be the "best 50" Currier & Ives prints. For 50 days, these prints were illustrated and described in the New York Sun, creating an instant market for the selected prints chosen.

In 1988, a new "best 50" was selected by members of the American Historical Print Collectors Society.

"Currier & Ives: The New Best 50" was published in 1990 with all of the new best prints illustrated in color and with an analysis of the differences between the original and new lists.

Cresswell purchases, sells and appraises antique prints, and has lectured around the country on many related topics, including Currier & Ives. Cresswell also has appeared as an expert print appraiser on "Antiques Road-Show." Cresswell will discuss the process involved in evaluating works of art based on the style and technique in order to attribute authorship, validate authenticity and appraise quality. He'll also explore the differences between the original and new lists.

An exhibition of Currier and Ives prints from The Philadelphia Print Shop will be on view prior to the lecture starting at 1 p.m.

For more information on the lecture or Award Winners XIII, visit biggsmuseum.org.